The present invention relates to electronic transaction management as provided through the use of computer systems. Electronic transaction performance capabilities, for establishing relationships between parties, have been enabled over systems composed of communicatively networked computing devices. These systems have employed various tools, techniques, mechanisms and capabilities in order to allow parties to accomplish transactions for various purposes.
Unfortunately, many current transaction management systems are unable, in the context of mobile devices, to provide a universal platform enabling the interaction and performance of all required functions for accomplishing transactions. This may contribute to limiting the expansion of electronic transactions and/or signature services. As such, current systems may only provide a static environment, wherein only certain specified, networked computing devices in pre-determined locations can be used. It may also be the case that not all devices, such as mobile devices, are enabled to or can perform tasks related to the management of transaction environments and/or tasks related to electronic files and/or documents like conversion and translation, display and presentation, creation and/or generation, signature obtainment and management, document management and security.
Failure to provide a universal transaction management platform may be exemplified by many of today's transaction management systems that continue to fail to integrate their performance across various platforms and/or require the use of specific software applications for various networked computing devices. For instance, the systems may not provide a universal electronic signature obtainment capability and require each device, including mobile devices, be loaded with and use their own such application to deliver the needed executory acts. This use of independent applications can impose significantly increased document management/processing requirements on a device and/or a system. For example, a device upon receiving a document, such as from an email, may be required to move it from a first instantiation, to the specific application for the manipulation of the document, and then return the document back to the device for further processing, such as email delivery. This also can significantly increase redundancy in transaction performance using such systems, wherein they may require the production and loading of such specific applications onto multiple devices or platforms, which can also limit the use of the systems to only those specific platforms or networked devices that have enough capability to actually manipulate files and perform the functions required to complete a transaction.
Many of the current systems do not provide a system controlled document execution environment(s) within which electronic signature and other acts of execution for a document can be obtained, including document execution by handwritten signature. Thus, while various electronic signature techniques, tools and/or mechanisms are employed by today's systems they can suffer from an inherent vulnerability based on their required implementation into a specific device, thereby generating a risk of inconsistency in transaction performance, and such various other drawbacks as are known and have been indicated above. For instance, it can be the case that for a document to be executed it must be sent to the device and then established by and within a specific electronic signature capability of the device for the performance of an act(s) of execution. Thus, the transaction management system is no longer in control of the document or its execution, and it is only after the completion of the act(s) of execution, while established solely on the mobile device, that the document is returned to the system.
It may also be the case that many of today's transaction management systems are incapable or have only limited capability of providing a level of implicit and/or explicit control over a transaction, any transaction documents, and the performance of required acts of execution for a document. In addition to what has been described above, the systems may allow an individual party to access and execute a document at any time under any conditions, which may, for example, promote inconsistency and questions regarding the document itself, the required parties for the document and the execution required at any given time. This may promote increased time spent by the parties in accomplishing a transaction and decrease satisfaction with the transaction. Further, no distinction may be made between transaction environments within which transaction documents may be established, thereby potentially enabling the performance of all document processing and all required acts to establish a completed, fully executed transaction document within a single transaction environment. Still further, there may be no communication by the system with parties to a transaction that may assist in the performance of the transaction. Thus, these systems may potentially contribute to the increased risk of severely impugning the integrity of any transaction it is handling and performance.
Therefore, there is a need for a transaction management system, enabled over networked computing devices, including mobile devices, that is not restricted to specific platforms and/or devices for the performance of a transaction and enables the performance of all aspects of a transaction over any device. It is therefore desired to provide methods and systems that address the herein identified and other weaknesses in the field of electronic transaction management implemented over computer systems.